You enter the Winfield at the center of the brick building. To the left is the dining room, which received a major renovation last year. The new design, which uses many reclaimed materials, features rustic wood floors and exposed brick walls. Shiny tin ceilings give a nod to the building’s 1933 origin. A mixture of light fixtures and mirrors add an eclectic vibe. The tables are the real conversation pieces — made of bowling alleys reclaimed from the Olympic Bowl, they are branded with the Winfield logo.

The Winfield also has a large, inviting bar area. It has two-story-high ceilings, and televisions ring the upper third of the walls.

My group of four visited on a Saturday evening, when the Winfield takes reservations only for parties of six or more. We decided to beat the rush and dine early.

The menu runs the gamut from bar food to salads to sandwiches to mostly Italian-influenced entrées.

Our starters were soups, a salad and Buffalo chicken bites. French onion soup had a deeply flavored broth and the requisite melted cheese draped over the sides of the bowl, but the onions could have been a bit more caramelized. Seafood bisque, the soup of the day, was thick to the point of being gloppy and studded with chunks of seafood that were hard to identify. The dinner salad included fresh greens and a good house-made poppy seed dressing — I appreciated that was not too sweet.

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Billed as “the best in Rochester,” Buffalo chicken bites were irregular sized chunks of chicken that had been battered, deep-fried until crunchy and tossed in wing sauce. Ordered with hot sauce, they were spicy but still tolerable to the wimpier palates. They appeared to be real chunks of chicken and not the formed stuff, but the size variations led to the smaller bites having more breading than chicken and chewy meat inside.

Saturday is the only day for prime rib at Winfield, and it was the best dish of the night. It was juicy and tender and cooked exactly to the desired doneness. On the side were the day’s veggies, baby carrots and little onions. At $16.95 for a 12-ounce portion, it also was a good value.

The Winfield’s menu includes six dishes based on boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and all offer a choice between one or two chicken breasts. Even with just one, the Chicken du Chef was an ample portion. Linguine tangled around sautéed mushrooms, artichoke hearts, prosciutto, fresh basil and shallots, all in a pool of a wine sauce that had a brothy consistency. A white chicken breast, topped with a bit of melted mozzarella, was nestled in the mixture. The dish was tasty but unwieldy; it was a challenge to keep my shirt drip-free.

Two in our group ordered sandwiches. Grown-Up Grilled Cheese included bacon and tomato and was nicely grilled on sourdough bread. A bacon cheeseburger was cooked to the proper doneness, but the bacon was not crispy, and the bun wasn’t toasted. Steak fries and sweet potato fries on the side both received a thumbs-up.

Our server was efficient and all business. When we ordered, she explained choices that would require an upcharge — always good to know. She quietly refilled empty glasses of sodas without our having to ask.

All in all, we found our experience to be acceptable, but the meal didn’t match the expectations set by the restaurant’s impeccable new décor. It’s a popular place, though; when we left, it was lively and full.